"Know Thy Enemy"

Reading a blog entry on HarleyThoughts.com about a gruesome incident reminded me the day I came within inches of losing my right leg.

It was 1980. It was late on a Summer Saturday afternoon. I was 20 years old, full of the dumbass fearlessness that so often accompanies youth. I was riding a 1969 Harley Shovelhead. I accelerated quickly from an intersection on a busy main drag, leaving the rest of the cars behind. I wasn't racing, but I was moving along faster than the rest of traffic. I wasn't wearing a helmet—this was long before California eliminated that choice.

A friend sent this to me a while ago, so I thought I'd get off my duff and post it. It was taken in Silicon Valley last year, and it shows just how silly some people can be.

Here we have a car that has taken a significant impact to the rear quarter, enough to tweak the entire car (this is a unibody car, after all) and someone felt it would be reasonable to 1) hold it all together with duct tape, and 2) drive the car in Bay Area traffic.

Stay alert, people. This kind of driver is capable of all sorts of carnage.

Photo provided by James Cheap

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